An official with Egypt’s E-Finance Company stated that the fuel smart card system is expected to be activated at Egyptian gas stations by the end of 2016. This move comes as a part of the ministry of petroleum’s plan to combat the leakage of subsided petroleum products onto the black market and into the hands of smugglers, reported Al Ahram News.

The Egyptian government contracted E-finance to execute the fuel smart cards project. The company’s Strategy and Business Planning Director, Haitham Tarabeek, stated that the project was planned to launched in 2013, but it was postponed to 2015. However, the project faced further delays a few days before it was planned to restart in 2015.

The Egyptian government is working on revitalizing the country’s stagnating economy with a $12b loan from IMF and plans to cut state spending on petroleum subsidy in 2016/17 by more than 43% to reach EGP 35b.